There are multiple methods for manipulating the atmosphere, which include; acoustic, gyro-resonance, radio frequency, visible and non-visible light spectrum, etc. While there are multiple methods for manipulating the atmosphere, in order to transfer information from one location to another, radio frequency (RF) and LASER induced atmospheric manipulation are currently among the most prevalent methods.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,134,715, 4,999,637, US 20070215946, US 20070238252, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,053,783, and 5,041,834, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein, discloses the use of artificially ionized atmosphere for the purpose of refracting radio frequency signals from one location to another.
Other methods include the use of optical images in the atmosphere to be observed at another distant location for information transfer from one location to another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,995, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein, discloses the use of LASERs for forming a visible image in the atmosphere. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 7,286,766, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein, describes the use of a “laser guide star” with modulated light, in order to create a free-space optical communications link. Other examples include the use of LASERs for irradiating the atmosphere for astronomy or communications purposes. However, this method of optical communications lacks all-weather reliability and rapidly degrades over long distances.